


Perfect for Me - A What if it's Us One Shot

by TeacherLady215



Category: What If It's Us - Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Genre: Canon Gay Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Musicals, One Shot, Romance, Sloppy Makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28296261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeacherLady215/pseuds/TeacherLady215
Summary: Ben meets Arthur in the park for a picnic the day after that idiot harasses them on the train and in the morning before Team Seuss comes over to meet Team Alejo.
Relationships: Ben Alejo/Arthur Seuss
Kudos: 3





	Perfect for Me - A What if it's Us One Shot

**Ben**

_Sunday July 22 nd 9:30 AM_

I know we are having dinner with his family tonight, but I have to see Arthur today before we are surrounded by parents and unable to connect as fully as we need to. The encounter we had on the train last night, the scary one we will carry and hold in the back of our minds forever, was a very heavy thing and I want to make sure he’s okay. We need some time alone before being thrown to the metaphoric wolves. I asked him to meet me in Central Park. There are several pretty private sections of the park where we can be together with reasonable assurance we will be left alone.

Arthur has said he has something he wants me to listen to, but wants to be with me when I listen to it. He wants to listen together and I’m completely okay with that. I would listen to anything with him, especially given how much I LOVE _Hamilton_.

Ma has made us some snacks and she packs them into a wicker picnic basket that hasn’t seen the light of day since the 80’s. I can just picture Arthur’s “Awww” now. “So, I fried you up some plantains and I thought Arthur might appreciate some chicken empanadas,” Ma explains as she finishes packing the Tupperware.

“Did you put in some of that…?” I start. My mouth is literally already watering.

“The sauce? Of course, Benito. I wouldn’t have forgotten the sauce.” She kisses me on the forehead and tells me to have a good time.

“Will do, Ma. Love you,” I say, and head for the door.

I hop on the train and make for the stop for Central Park. We agreed to meet at the fountain at Columbus Circle. I approach only a very respectable five minutes late and see the cutest thing ever: Arthur is down on one knee in front of a ridiculously fluffy Pomeranian talking to its owner, a late fifties/early sixties woman with a fanny pack, as he pets the dog.

I grin widely as I walk toward them and his electric blue eyes look my way, brightening as he stands and says goodbye to the pup-owner. Arthur brushes the dirt off of his knee and walks to greet me with a huge nerdy smile.

“Hey Handsome,” he calls, and I notice a blanket rolled up beneath his arm.

“Hey, good thinking,” I say pointing to the blanket. I hold up the picnic basket, “Ma made us snacks. They’re my actual favorite thing she makes.” My mouth is now watering for both the food and the boy standing in front of me. I brush my tongue across my bottom lip and bite it gently.

“Can’t wait…” he assures gently, but he’s not really looking at my eyes anymore. His eyes cast down and he turns so that we both start walking. I cast a sidelong glance and see his cheeks are flushed and pink. I slip my hand into his and interlock our fingers. He squeezes my hand and looks at me also, worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth.

I search for one of the places that would be as private as possible for the two of us to set up for our picnic. We walk approximately five minutes into the park and find a copse of trees that forms a nice, tight, shadowed area behind a giant old oak tree that must be 8 feet around. As we’ve walked, I noticed that Arthur seems uneasy and keeps looking around nervously, as if to see if anyone were starting at us. I brush my thumb against his and walk a bit closer to him as we leave the path and walk to the considerably more private clearing among the trees. Once we are encased in the trees with the oak seeming to protectively stand guard overtop of us, Arthur lets go of my hand and spreads out the blanket. I set the picnic basket down and help him spread it out.

Now that we are alone, I grab his hand again and draw him toward me. I let my hands brush gently down his upper arms as I encircle him with my arms. His arms go around me as well, resting on my lower back just above the waist band of my jeans. I am so close I can see tiny flecks of silver in his bright blue eyes. We are nose to nose. I lean in and press my lips gently to his and I swear I can feel his beautifully long eye lashes brush against my cheek as his eyes flutter closed. He returns my kiss but pulls away pretty quickly. My chest aches a bit as Arthur leans his head back. His eyes are still nervous as he looks over each of my shoulders in turn to make sure no one is coming.

I turn both directions and confirm that no one is around and that we have plenty of cover. “No one is here, Arthur,“ I assure him, moving my hands up to take his face in them. I brush my thumbs against the soft skin of his cheeks and say, “And I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, okay?”

He breathes deeply then exhales a loud and shivering sound escaping from his mouth. My heart aches to still see him so scared. Scared to be seen with me. “Sorry,” he whispers. “That guy yesterday must have really gotten into my head. I’ll be okay; I’m here; I’m okay. I promise.”

My brow furrows at him, “It is 100% okay that you wouldn’t be okay. This is exactly why I wanted to be with you this morning. That kind of experience doesn’t just go away.” I trail my hand down his arm as I pull away and ask, “Will you sit with me?”

He nods and we both move to the blanket. I settle myself with my back against the tree which is surprisingly comfortable, and he nestles in perfectly against my chest sitting between my legs. I wrap my arms tightly around him finding both his hands and twining our fingers together with my palms against his knuckles. His knees are pulled up against him and I have one leg up bracing his weight and the other stretched out. I lay a light kiss on his temple and rest my forehead there as the slight shiver in Arthur calms considerably.

“Have you ever had an experience like that before?” he asks quietly.

I know he doesn’t like to hear about Hudson, so I say, “Yeah, but it was…with him…”

He sighs deeply. “I’d still like to hear about it… I’ve never been so scared in my life, Ben… for you, for us, to be myself… How did you handle it so well?”

I swallow thickly and squeeze his hands, leaning my head back against the tree. “I was scared shitless. It’s pretty much a miracle that I came off as anything else… But, here goes… It was probably end of January or early February and he and I were walking to my place from school. We were holding hands and passed an older couple coming out of what must have been confession at the Catholic church we were coming up to. They turned on us and shouted that we were disgusting. We both turned around and he said, “Excuse me?” They turned back to us and said we were disgusting and would be damned to hell for our choices and behavior. I was shocked that they felt the need to say anything at all, but Hudson wasn’t having any of their shit. All I’ll say is we gave them a show to be disgusted at…” I finish.

“Always been a rebel then, eh?” he chuckles, but I can feel his muscles have stiffened from all the talk of Hudson.

“That’s me.” I smile, but I do not tell Arthur about that homophobic comedian. Maybe one day, but he’s not ready now…

“I wish I could be that strong…” he says but his tone is resigned.

“It comes with time. I’ve been out and proud for quite a while and that situation last night still shook me up. Like you said, usually, NYC is pretty progressive, and people leave others alone but like I said, every place has their assholes.”

“Yeah… I guess. Okay, we can stop talking about it now. I want to have a good morning with you. We’re being especially depressing,” Arthur chuckles.

He turns and swings his legs so that they rest across my outstretched one and his back rests against my bent one. This untangles our hands but I keep my arms around him as he reaches his arms up around my neck. He lifts his face to mine and kisses me insistently, running his fingers through my hair. My entire body buzzes as his tongue presses to my bottom lip. I gasp, allowing him access and we let our tongues dance together, tasting every inch of each other’s mouths. He tastes of bright mint and a hint of maple syrup, probably from his breakfast. He backs his tongue out of my mouth and drags his teeth over my bottom lip, sucking on it gently. A moan escapes my mouth and I pull him closer, one hand on his lower back, one hand cupping his cheek. I move my lips away from his and skim them along his jawline causing his breath to hitch in his chest. I smile against his ear as I take the lobe gently between my teeth and suck on it before tracing a line with the tip of my tongue down his neck to the space just above his collar bone left exposed by his v-neck tee. I move my hand up into his wild curly hair as I suck at this sensitive skin and his breath quickens. He moans a little and pulls me back to his lips and we crash together again hungrily. I could do this dance all day with him, even if it never went any further. I could make out with Arthur all day long, but we came for a purpose. I’m not really of a mind to care about that right in this particular moment, but he would be disappointed if we came all the way here and he didn’t get to let me listen to the album he wanted me to hear. I slow my kisses considerably, even though I’m pretty sure it is literally killing me to do so. “We should probably cool it for a few,” I whisper against his lips.

Arthur breathes a laugh and nods. He presses a short sweet kiss to my lips as he unwraps his hands from around my neck, but he doesn’t move away entirely. He drags his hand down my arm to lock our hands together and asks, “So, what delicious treats have we got from Mama Alejo?” His pronunciation is a little funny, but I smile as I drag the basket our way.

**Arthur**

Woah, I must be about to eat the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted because Ben is just about giddy when his smile brightens his face and he pulls the picnic basket toward us. “These are literally the very top of my mom’s Puerto Rican cooking prowess. Just you wait!” he beams.

“I’m willing to wait for it,” I sing with a smile. We are Hamilton Quoting at each other! Look how CUTE we are!!!

Ben grins as he sets up each container placing the tops underneath them, then picks up one of the pockets of fried dough, dips it in a syrupy orange sauce, and brings it toward me. I meet it in mid-air, worried that the sauce might drip and take a generous bite and… Woah! Spices and shredded chicken and cheese all mingle together with the sweet chili sauce to form the most perfect bit of food I think I’ve ever had, and I’ve had my Bubbe’s Baklava, that shit is delicious, so this is a next-level flavor extravaganza! Also, Ben’s feeding me now? What the what? I am in a Rom-Com and Benjamin Hugo Alejo is feeding me! I am the starry-eyed lover of Ben! My heart is doing somersaults, or is that my stomach? It had better get its shit together because I have delicious food to scarf down!

“These are sooooo good!” I exclaim.

Ben grins proudly, “I’m glad you like them. My mom made them special just for you. We also have tostones, they are sort of like a banana chip, except they’re plantains and they’re fried.”

I take one and pop it into my mouth, its crispy texture crunching satisfactorily in my mouth and the salt balancing the sweet of the sauce from the empanada perfectly. “Yummm” I say with a smile. “The perfect pairing.”

Ben and I eat our fill, alternately feeding one another and talking. I ask him what other dishes his mom makes really well, and he asks me what some of my favorite Jewish foods are. I get to tell him about my Bubbe’s Baklava with all it’s sweet dripping honey and layers of filo. To this he says, “That sounds awesome.”

Once we have finished and he has packed up the empty Tupperware, he asks, “So, what is this album I simply must listen to?”

“Have you ever heard of ‘In the Heights’?” I ask him.

“I think so, I think they played some of the songs on the radio when they were advertising it,” Ben nods.

“There are a couple of radio edits on the album, so that makes sense. It’s Lin-Manuel’s first Broadway show and it’s basically a love letter to his neighborhood and his heritage. He lives in Washington Heights, literally uptown, and while the main man is Dominican, the main girl is Puerto Rican and the whole show is about people coming together who seem like they may not fit culturally but finding they fit better than they thought. I know I had pretty severe foot in mouth issues yesterday, I’m sorry about that again…” I am interrupted.

Ben is shaking his head as I try apologizing again and he takes my face in his hand, pulling me in for a kiss. “It means the world to me that you listened and took what I said to heart. You are the actual cutest, but please stop apologizing. The best apology you can give me is to stop apologizing. Let’s listen.” He kisses me again.

I smile and take out my phone, cueing up the album and handing Ben one earbud. I twist and lie down on my stomach, kicking my feet up in the air like a little kid. Ben smiles and lays on his back, one hand behind his head, the other outstretched in front of me. I tap the first song and the castanets begin to play as I begin to lightly caress his fingers with mine, intertwining and untwining our fingers lazily as we listen. Ben is listening with his eyes closed and I gaze at the micro expressions I see as he identifies with someone or something in the neighborhood picture being painted by Lin-Manuel and a whole cast of Latinx characters. I could watch this boy listen to music forever. Leave me here to die because Ben is the cutest and I am the most taken ever.

As the opening number finishes, his eyes flutter open and he reaches for the controls on my headphones to pause the music. “This sounds almost exactly like my neighborhood. We even have a Piragua guy.” Ben smiles but there is a sadness as he continues. “Rent’s been going up a lot, too. It’s better now that my dad got his raise, but things are almost always super tight.”

I catch his hand in mine and press a kiss to his knuckles. “That must be really hard, having to be so careful with money… Do your parents ever bitch at each other about it?”

“Not really. They both know the score, and they work together really well to make sure I have what I need and that food gets put on the table. You’ll see, my mom’s basically a saint. Dad’s great, too.”

“I can’t wait,” I smile, pressing another kiss to the back of his hand and rubbing the outside of his forearm with my other hand.

He reaches back over and starts the music again saying, “Let’s keep going. We’ll be late for dinner at this rate.” He chuckles.

I smile and resume lazily drawing shapes on his hand and the inside of his forearm.

**Ben**

As I listen to these voices that sound so much like my own family and hear the stories of a neighborhood so much like my own in Alphabet City, I can see why Arthur wanted me to listen to this. But he couldn’t possibly know the extent to which I would connect to each individual character. Nina’s fear of letting down her family is my fear and Benny’s struggle to fit into a Hispanic community when he doesn’t look like them is my own struggle.

I live the expectations of a Puerto Rican kid from my family but I’m wearing a white kid’s body and while that isn’t my fault, I am disappointed in myself for it anyway.

As the song 96,000 gets going, I think about that time my mom was two measly numbers off from the jackpot and how much good my family could have done for our neighborhood with that money. This show was written for me, or at least that’s what it sounds like.

“I love Sonny,” I tell Arthur with a laugh as the rap finishes about how “the ghetto has a million promises for me to keep.”

“He’s the one I thought about for you, too!” Arthur says with a smile. He scoots closer and twists so that he can lay his head on my stomach. Immediately, as if it was a foregone conclusion, my fingers are in his hair playing lightly with the strands and gently massaging his scalp. He switches the side of his earbud because he’s a bit tangled up in it and then reaches up brushing the inside of my bicep of the arm propping up my head with his knuckles.

I giggle a little and squirm against his hand. “Sorry, I’m ticklish there.”

Arthur’s eyes flash mischievously up at me with a wicked smile. “Good to know.”

I laugh, “Be careful how you use that information, I can find your ticklish spots, too.”

“Fair point,” he smiles up at me.

We continue to listen, and Arthur’s eyes slide closed as his lips mouth along with Nina and Benny singing “When You’re Home”. The urge to capture his perfect lips with my own becomes unbearable and I slide a hand beneath his head. He opens his eyes and sits up slightly so that I can pull his face to mine and curl toward him to press my lips to his. 

“What was that for?” he asks a little bewildered at the suddenness.

“Couldn’t help myself, you looked too cute singing along in your head.”

His eyes sparkle, “Oh…” He maneuvers so that he is laying on his side alongside me with his face pressed into the crook of my neck, his free hand resting on my chest as we listen to Usnavi try way too hard in “The Club”. He fits perfectly against me in the space made for another person to cuddle up against me. I take Arthur’s hand in mine and hold it against my chest, lightly caressing his fingertips with my thumb. I could actually lie here like this all day. Eventually my arm would go numb, but I wouldn’t care because Arthur is here, and I am so incredibly content.

As the first act comes to an end, we agree we’d both go nuts if we lost track of each other in a situation like “The Blackout”. At some point during “Sunrise” Arthur’s leg naturally drapes across one of mine as he seeks to gain even more closeness. I let go of his hand and roll toward him to pull him into me as Nina’s Spanish and Benny’s English mingle together in a beautiful blend of cultures which are learning to love and appreciate one another. I feel emotion begin to rise in my throat and take a deep breath.

Arthur rubs my back lightly and asks if I’m okay.

“Mmhm” I murmur, fearing what might come out if I actually tried to talk. When the song ends, I reach up and pause the music again and Arthur shifts back to look into my eyes. “I’ve never had anyone, even my friends, even Dylan, take the time to recognize my culture and show me they appreciate it. This means a lot to me, Arthur…” My voice is thick and quiet.

He brings a hand to my face and kisses me softly. “I heard you yesterday, Ben. I could not be prouder of you for every aspect of who you are. I never want you to feel anything less than proud of yourself when you’re with me.” He props up on one elbow and cups the back of my neck in his hand bringing me in for a deeper kiss. He pulls his lips from mine and lays soft, electrifying kisses along my jaw, behind my ear, and down my neck to the joint of my neck and shoulder as I had done for him earlier.

“You’re learning quickly,” I whisper, unable to speak any louder.

He chuckles and drags his lips agonizingly all the way back up my neck, along my jaw, and back to my lips for an insistent and demanding kiss. I press into him as our mouths and tongues glide smoothly with one another, spreading my hand across his lower back under the fabric of his teeshirt which has ridden up. Arthur moans into our kiss and tries to press even closer, which would only be possible if we were wearing fewer articles of clothing. I pull my lips from his and bring my lips to his ear whispering the one sexy Spanish phrase I ever learned, “Te quiero tan malo,” before gently licking and sucking at the skin just behind his ear. He gasps and groans leaning into my lips and moving his hand into my hair forcefully grasping a handful. It is SUCH a turn on when he does that. My hand pushes up his back so that I am holding him at his shoulder blades pressing him as close to me as can be. Our legs are a tangled mass of limbs and our excitement is growing more and more apparent against one another. I pull back and look into his eyes seeing a thin line of blue around wide black pupils. We are both breathless as he lifts a hand to my face cupping my cheek. I lean toward him for a gentler kiss but I think this hunger for him in my lower belly will never go away.

I lay my forehead on his and whisper, “Do you want to stop?” I don’t want to push him into more than he is ready for so I know that we should, but I desperately want him to say no; keep going.

He sighs deeply and replies quietly, “I don’t think I could ever truly desire in my life to stop kissing you. It’s a fairly insatiable need at this point.” His grip on my hair has lessened and he is now playing with the hair at the nape of my neck as our breath continues to mingle in an intoxicating blend of heat and moisture that is doing nothing to help either of us calm down.

**Arthur**

Holy Shit. We are never going to finish this fucking cast album because Ben is so close and I am so hot for him right now. As I try to regain whatever chill I might be able to muster (it’s not much, trust…) I cannot stop focusing on the bare skin of our stomachs pressed against each other and Ben’s fingertips drawing designs along my spine under my shirt. THERE IS SO MUCH SKIN TO SKIN ACTION HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!! We haven’t moved in several moments and while my heart continues to pound, our breathing seems to be evening out. I am finally ready to say something and so I ask him guiltily, “Can we keep making out but take it down a few notches? That was pretty intense.” I feel bad for asking but there’s only so much a guy can take when outside in the middle of New York City.

“I am okay with anything from just lying next to you all the way to…well, you know… obviously we wouldn’t do that here,” he laughed; I blushed a deep tomatoey red. “We can go for as much or as little action as you’d like as long as we keep our clothes on.” He grins mischievously and the blush I thought couldn’t get any redder does.

He must see that I feel guilty for stopping because this immediately removes the look from his face as he pulls his hand out from under my shirt pulling it back down and he disentangles our legs. I can’t help the pang of disappointment I feel at being separated from him but he begins to sit up and so do I. We are sitting cross-legged but knee to knee as he takes both my hands in one of his and cups my cheek with the other. He looks intently into my eyes and says, “You never have to feel badly for telling me what you need or what you are or aren’t comfortable with. You’re right, things got really hot. I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable at all…”

I pull my hands up and grab his face to silence him midsentence with a kiss. “No. I could not feel safer in this moment. My only concern is that we are technically in public in that we are outside. Benjamin Hugo Alejo, I, Arthur James Seuss, want every inch your body and don’t you ever forget it. Now, can you promise me you’ll finish listening to this album? It’s about to get both very sad and very beautiful but I really just want to make out with you.”

He holds up three fingers like a good boy scout and nods. “I promise I will listen to act II of ‘In The Heights’ while I’m getting ready for our big dinner tonight.”

“Perfect, now come here,” I grin as I do a bit of a crab walk to get into his lap and wrap my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

He immediately braces my weight against him with both of his strong arms coming around my back. I kiss him lightly and ask, “So, any other info I should have before we head over tonight?”

He shifts us so that I am sitting on the blanket but his legs are bent on either side of me and mine are bent over his hips. I untangle my arms from around his neck and run my hands down his chest smiling up at him. Good Lord he’s gorgeous as he runs a self-conscious hand through his hair. A few strands immediately fall back into his eyes as he says, “Well… my apartment is nowhere near as big as what you’re used to, but we make it work…”

His cheeks flush with some embarrassment and I am more than a little hurt. “You think that’s what I care about?” I ask in a whisper, my eyes searching his as he turns them back to me.

His forearms rest against my thighs and he is playing with the fabric of my tee-shirt. “No, I guess not… it’s just… it’s definitely too small for 6 and it just reminds me what we don’t have. I’m afraid that no matter how much you’re attracted to me, my life and my family won’t be enough for you,” he explains guiltily. “I know how bad that sounds, but that’s how I’m feeling. It’s not anything you’ve said, but between that restaurant you picked and seeing your apartment last night, I guess I’m just seeing the differences between us.”

I run my hands back up and interlock my fingers behind his neck. “Hey, look at me” I say, though it’s not like he has much choice given that I’ve leaned in and we are almost nose to nose. “What did I tell you never to forget?”

“That you want me,” he says thickly with a slight upturn in one side of his lips.

“That’s right. That is a fact. That fact is not contingent on the size of your allowance, your apartment, or the number of A’s, or complete lack of them, on your report card,” I impress upon him. Ben’s eyes go glassy and I continue, more quietly, “I am falling for you, Ben, so quickly and totally that it’s pretty scary. So, I need you to trust me when I say that you wanting me to meet your parents is the best feeling and coming to your apartment is so exciting because I get to see where you spend your time and learn more about who you are. I want to know you as fully as possible in the time we have together. Okay?”

Ben is clasping his bottom lip between his teeth before he sighs, smiles, and whispers, “Okay, I trust you.” He pulls me closer to him, hugging me tightly, his face buried in my neck.

My hand is back in his luscious dark hair and I tell him, “God Ben, I wish you could see you how I see you. You are the cutest, sweetest, smartest, most amazing guy. You may not be perfect, but you’re perfect for me.”

I pull back to kiss him and we pick up where we left off, but there is a new level of comfort. We have said all we needed to, let show sides of ourselves that others rarely get to see. I run my tongue along the curve of his bottom lip, and he meets it with his own tongue. Ben’s arm is again around my back, but he is laying us down onto the blanket, his hips settling deliciously against mine which makes me gasp as he braces his weight on his elbows on either side of my head. I am hard and he is hard and our breath stutters and starts as we press and slide against one another. I am having trouble forming any kind of coherent thought as I hang onto him and ride this amazing high of the most intense make out session ever. Needing more of him, my hands make their way beneath his t-shirt and I feel the muscles of his back rippling and the bones of his ribs move against my own as he undoes me with his breathless kisses. I wrap a leg around his, pressing us together even more satisfyingly. Ben moves off of his elbows to settle more fully against my body and I swear I’m about to go. No actual clothing has been removed, but it doesn’t matter. However, Ben begins to slow the kiss, seeming to come to his senses, though mine are still nowhere to be found. The pressure of him against the length of me has my senses in complete overdrive. Ben lays a few light kisses to my lips and rests his forehead against mine, working to catch his breath. I tug his shirt back into place but drag my fingertips against the outside of it as they come back up to his arms.

“You okay?” he asks, still breathless and fucking adorable.

“I could not be more okay except if we were alone in a private room,” I lament. “You?”

“Very.” He smiles and lifts away from me, adjusting his jeans as he sits up.

My body is still buzzing and immediately misses the presence of him on top of me. I sit up and also adjust for the eternal teenage boy problem saying, “We should probably head out. Mom and dad want to pick up a special dessert before we come to your house.”

Ben nods. “I’m so glad we got together this morning,” he smiles shyly toward me.

“It was amazing.” I reach for his hand, give it a squeeze and kiss his knuckles lightly.

We stand and pack up the things we brought, do a quick “excitement” check to make sure we’re suitable to be out in public, and then begin the short walk out of the park, hand in hand.


End file.
